Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

[ihavecancer]

best luck ..doctors need to listen to their patients more ..never too young for colon cancer

[Jon Olis]

Hi,

Just read thru all your posts and thought my story might help. Click the this link and read my story...

http://www.colonclub.com/2009February.html

Short story is I had thousands of polyps in my colon since my 20's, never had any symptoms but periodic blood. Discover Stage III colon cancer at 36 (probably 10 years after polyps started forming). I think the line that if you have blood for 5 years, you'd be gone is completely wrong. As with me and FAP, polyps really probably started in the late teens so they could have taken much much longer then 5 years to turn to colon cancer.

I think at a very minimum, if your doctors will not do a colonoscopy, which I think is wrong, you should be getting an FOBC. Fecal Occult Blood Test or something like this. I had this after discovering anemia (very slight anemia at that). In fact I believe I was only anemic due to stomach flu which agitated the polyps and caused more bleeding shortly before the blood test for anemia. 2 weeks later another blood test should I was not anemic. And this was with 1000+ polyps in my colon!

You need an FOBC test at a minimum. Its a test that screens for blood in the stool that you can't see (microscopic blood). Its usually done over 5 days and its not expensive.

Jon

[Reala]

Hey guys, quick update for you:

I decided that all the worrying was probably making things worse than they really were so decided to follow a friends advice and stop researching on the Internet and just try to do my normal think (exercise, kickbox, read,etc). Dizziness and Tiredness seems to have disapeared a bit... certainly the dizziness is not as bad.

Stomach still hurts on the right hand side just above my hip, I would just straight to appendix if it hadn' been hurting for like 3 months =/ I guess appendix wouldn't play up that long? Stools have done a complete U-Turn, since I have upped my fibre and added in tons of fruits they are now very loose and more than easy to pass... where as before they were difficult to pass. I know 'loose' stools is a sign of IBS...

I suppose really that means my only current symptoms are a constant stabbing pain in my lower right side and crazy bowel movements. I suffer from Acid Reflux, any chance this is related? hmmmmm

Blood tests due in a few days (Tuesday 14th april @ 11:40)... Can't wait to get them over with =/

[Reala]

Had my blood tests today... Really scared about the results... All that seems to be swimming in my mind is that my symptoms match Cancer etc, but I guess I can't do anything about it either way for now. They took my blood and told me to come back in a week but that if any problems they will call me... so now I'm waiting by the phone.

Marc

[ihavecancer]

Had my blood tests today... Really scared about the results... All that seems to be swimming in my mind is that my symptoms match Cancer etc, but I guess I can't do anything about it either way for now. They took my blood and told me to come back in a week but that if any problems they will call me... so now I'm waiting by the phone.

Marc

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best luck to you

[Terry]

Good luck Reala!

I just finished reading all of the posts on her and now I'm holding my tongue on so many cuz your off to other subject.

First, my cancer was discovered by the fecal occult blood test. Thank the Lord for that test or I'd probably be in worse shape.

Then I was reading something about being indigent and not paying your bills etc. My husband got something in his eye last summer in LaCrosse while working. He went to the ER and they took it out in seconds. $1800.00 later....what the heck!!!! That's ridiculous. Of course since we own our own business he doesn't have workers comp. so we're paying it out of pocket.

I was working as nurse on the oncology unit at the hospital in March. I had health insurance and had my CT, low and behold, had CT on 3/9, lost my job on 3/12(????isn't that odd). On 3/13 told my cancer had mets. I had been paying in union dues since January, called the union to fight and they said I don't get to use the union because I was terminated a couple days before my 90 day probationary period was up. Oh yeah, my insurance stopped the DAY I was teminated! Talk about a crappy week! Anyway, I work, my husband works and then something like this happens. I'm now on state insurance and I'm not going to deny it. My husband is a builder and we all know with the economy that may not do to well this year. It's never good this time of year but in the summer it usually does well enough to sustain us. We all ARE only moments away from being at poverty in todays world. It sucks!

My daughter is having a colonoscopy 5/6. She's 29 and she's scared to death because she comes on here and sees the young people that have this, and it's very prevalent in my family. Everyone think good thoughts/pray for her please. Her name is Shana.

Reala, let us know when you get your results please.
Terry

[Reala]

Good afternoon everyone,

Just literally 5 seconds ago got off the phone from the doctor and hesaid my blood tests all came back 'Normal - No Action', I guess that is a good sign! I am going back on Monday for follow up discussions but I guess the main thing is that if my postrual hypotension (dizziness / falling over when standing up) is not from anemia then that rules out a major reason for the cancer concern.

Obviously thin stools and stomach ache are still left, however the doctor spoke to me and asked me to describe my problems and said that we would like to take a proper test for hemmoroids. He said it sounds like I could have early prolapsed hemmoroids (Grade 2 or something) and that they could be blocking my bowell movements and thrus causing slight pain in my right side (apparently that is the side that hurts when constipated?).

I mentioned I had an exam for them before but he said internal ones close to the exit can be hard to detect as he can easily 'pass them' and that they only really swell up to any significant size when a person is straining?

Anyway, I have not ruled out colorectal cancer, but I've taken and passed the first step Thanks SO MUCH for all the help and support, I cannot tell you how much you have all helped my mental state

[justsing]

That's great news!!!

I'm also glad to hear that you and your doc are not resting on the laurels of your normal blood work. Keep looking until you get some answers and feel better. No suck-it-up-and-deal allowed!!!

[Reala]

Quick question, my doctors appointment got cancelled tomorrow until Thursday... bugger.

Out of interest as my results came back 'normal - no action', in relation to colon / rectal cancers how far would that go to suggest that a patient is cancer-less if their only symptoms are rectal bleeding and tiredness. Only reason I ask is because I have a friend (I met over internet) and they have same symptoms as me and he says that it might not show up in test.

However I said if the tiredness was related to cancer it would be from anaemia and that would show in the blood tests? Anyway, as I said earlier I am not feeling too bad at moment (worry wise) was just contemplating what he said.

[sean]

With your bowel problems and pain keep getting tests until you have an answer. You mentioned that you have pain on your right side. Cancer in the right colon can produce no signs of blood in your stool because it is often digested before it can be expelled. If your doctor is reluctant to order a colonoscopy at this time, you might ask about are an ultrasound and/or a barium enema. My pain was on my right side about 2-3 inches to the right of by belly button. I had it every day for at least 5-10 minutes. It felt like gas pain and I could make it go away by massaging it would in retrospect probably helped the undigested food pass through. It was diagnosed originally as too much fiber and then as IBS . I was lucky that the medication for IBS caused blurry vision or it may have worked to mask the symptoms for a while longer. After diet changes didn't work and it kept getting worse, my doc ordered an ultrasound and it showed that my colon folded over itself (intersucception sp?). To find out more they did a barium enema that show there was a blockage. Finally a colonoscopy showed it was nasty looking & so was treated as cancer - which it was. Not all blockages are necessarily cancer nor are all possible sources of pain, but you should not be having these symptoms. The odds are very much in your favor that there is a non-cancerous explanation so there is no need to scare yourself. Just keep pressing for answers. I didn't notice if you were seeing a primary care doctor or a gastroenterologist. If your current doc doesn't continue to follow through you could ask for a referral.

Good luck,

Sean